A Dangerous Stranger
by xLosersRuleTheWorldx
Summary: All he needed was a place to hide out until he could get his hands on more Venom. He didn't expect to meet someone who actually cared, even if she didn't know the real him. Bane/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello there, Batman Arkham Asylum/City fans. Guess who's returned to the fandom? Yep, that's right and I do hope that this story will be a great improvement compared to my "Lunar Asylum" fic, which I'm still beating myself up over as I don't want to make the same mistakes twice.**

**This BaneXOC fic was requested by hautingwolf, though she didn't ask for what specifically. She just wanted some Bane love and I agreed. So, here I will try my best to make a good fic with a good OC in it. **

**Feedback would be really great. Please, enjoy! ^^**

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><p>He wasn't crazy.<p>

Yet, even though he believed that, no one else did. They kept him locked in this prison, chained to the walls since they knew if he weren't chained, he'd just escape. He had lived in a prison for most of his life. He knew the tricks and the secrets to breaking out. These chains couldn't always hold him down. It wasn't like he hadn't escaped from this place before either.

He didn't belong here, yet everyone said he did. He was dubbed "criminally insane," therefore sealing his fate as an Arkham resident for the rest of his life. Though he knew he had issues as he grew up in a prison with his only companion being a stuffed bear, he wasn't "insane." If anything, he was one of the least mad residents in this asylum.

He didn't eat people.

He didn't blow up buildings for the hell of it.

He didn't spray citizens with toxins to watch them squirm in fear.

He was just a former government experiment that knew he was more than just manual labor to society. Unlike many, he survived the hellish tortures the government subjected him to and he ran away, taking the Venom with him and running to Gotham to hide.

Of course, fate had different ideas as he became a murderous criminal, doing anything from being hired help for the physically weaker rogues of this city to doing whatever he wanted to do, which was usually robbing banks for his own purposes or organizing groups to bring down the Batman.

Any way he put it, he wasn't someone who belonged in this kind of prison. It wasn't like this place could ever hold him in for long, just like every other villain that lived here. The security here was weak compared to the strengths of the residents, whether it was mental or physical. For many here, it was either one or the other, but he had both of those strengths on his side.

He may have not have been the most educated in the prison – hell, even Killer Croc had more of an education that he did as the cannibal went to high school whereas he never even set foot in a preschool – but he wasn't stupid in the street. He knew how to plan things out. He knew how to break out of this prison once he had a plan formed. Though not a big man without Venom, he was still fast on his feet and able to fight.

Prison did that to people; hardened them and made them strong or else they'd just crumble.

So he stood there, chained and waiting. It was his day to be interviewed by that Doctor Cassidy, who he actually liked. Well, at least more than the bruja. She tried to kill him. Needless to say, he was more than happy to learn about her murder.

Also, today was the third Wednesday of the month, which meant that the guards of the North sector were in a meeting with Cash, the weakest electrically defended sector of Arkham in which he had to travel through to have his interview with Doctor Cassidy.

The guards came in and one of them went over to him, undoing his wrist and ankle chains from the walls.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go."

Bane just walked slowly toward the cell door, allowing the two to stand behind him as he walked forward down the halls, glancing over at the security cameras, still waiting. He had learned patience from a very young age and at times like these, he was glad he had.

The timing became perfect. Just as the two guards walked into the North sector, he waited until they got more towards the center of the area. Then, just as they did, he threw his cuffed clenched fist at the guard on his right, his knuckles colliding with the side of his jaw, knocking him to the ground with the hard hit with a groan of pain as the prisoner slammed on his ankle, making him cry out in even more pain. Before the other guard could even react, Bane slammed his fists into his stomach and nearly made him vomit from the hard hit. Their guns had fallen out of their hands and with another punch to the second guard, the keys fell out of his vest and onto the floor.

"Stop…!" the one coughing choked out, unable to stop himself from finally vomiting, the blow to his stomach hurting more than expected.

The one on the floor reached for the keys as he was still suffering, but Bane was quicker and grabbed them first, unchaining his ankle cuffs first before moving to his wrists.

The guard then reached for his handheld transceiver and pressed on talk button, yelling alarmingly, "Code 13-Alpha! Code 13-Alpha! Category Nine patient escaping in North sector! Requesting backup–"

Bane kicked the transceiver out of guard's hand before making a run for it. The alarm system went off as he raced down the halls toward the storage unit where his tanks and Venom were being kept. He could hear people follow after him, but that only made him run faster, panting heavily as he did so. As he ran, he kept telling himself to not look back. If he did, that would allow himself to think that he could be caught. He remembered watching others try to escape prison when he was a child and they all looked back and they all were caught.

It was a lesson worth learning in order to survive.

He heard someone come at him from the right and he heard a gun be cocked. It fired and he ducked, the bullet going straight over his head as he continued to run forward. More bullets were fired his way and just as he reached the door to the storage unit, they were only yards away from him, firing at him. He yanked the door opened before slamming it closed and barricading it shut with the closet, largest object he could find, which happened to be a chair.

They pounded their fists and fired their guns at the door, but he ignored the sounds as he searched for something else to barricade it with, this time finding three large, empty tanks that Scarecrow had used on his last attack. He shoved them against the door before running down the halls for his tanks.

It seemed almost like an eternity of searching up and down the large room before he came across the tanks, his mask, and his stuffed bear. A wicked smiled formed on his face as he grabbed for them, even more excited to see that the morons hadn't drained the Venom from his tanks.

Finally, the door was forced open by the guards, which had multiplied into twelve of them as they flooded into the room, though the inmate was nowhere in sight. They pointed their guns out as they searched through the large room.

"Come out! There's nowhere for you to run! You're trapped!"

The guards were greeted with a still silence.

Then, they heard a loud, long groan, which slowly turned into a dark laugh. They all stiffened, but nonetheless, stalked forward in pursuit of the criminal.

"Show yourself!"

The laughter grew louder before stopping suddenly, the room growing eerily silent. The guards looked at each other for a few moments before they heard throughout the storage room, "My old prison was much more on top of things. You might want to fix that."

Then the room shook violently as they heard a great crash, outside light shining into the room. They gasped and ran toward the light, their eyes widened when they saw a great hole in the wall as it had been run through. They could see Bane's frame get smaller and smaller as he ran down the streets. A few of them chased after him and tried shooting at him, but to no avail.

One of the guards contacted Cash. "Cash, it's Richard. Bane just escaped."

"Damn it…" the senior guard groaned. "I'm calling Gordon. And damn it, Rick – make sure you keep a better eye on him! He's smarter than he lets on, I'm telling you!"

"Yes sir."


	2. Chapter 2

"Get out!" Adele screamed as she gave her now ex-boyfriend a hard shove. "You son of a bitch! I trusted you! Get out!"

"Adele," he tried stating calmly, though he knew it wasn't doing him any justice. "Come on, baby. It was a mistake–"

"Don't call me that!" she snarled, giving him another shove as he tried to reach for her. "And a mistake? You've been seeing this woman for four months and you call it a mistake?"

"Baby, you know I love you–"

She slapped him hard across the face. "The hell I do! Now get out of my apartment!"

She pushed him again against the door and turned away, too angry to think about him retaliating. Quickly, he grabbed her by the wrist and shoved her hard against the wall, making her gasp out in pain as he pinned both her wrists above her head with one hand and glared down at her, his other hand balled up into a clenched fist, pushing it up against her cheek. She glared back, though there was a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Now, come on, babe," he purred, though there was a definite and obvious warning and angry tone in his voice. "Let's not throw this away. It was just a mistake."

"I'll call the cops if you don't get out!" She hiked up her knee into his groin, causing his eyes to widen and cry out in great pain, releasing her wrists. She ran from him and into the bedroom, shutting and locking the door behind her as he pounded on the door, threatening to break it down.

Adele panted hard and frightfully as she backed up against the far wall. She didn't have a phone in the bedroom and she left her cell phone on the coffee table. Damn it, once again, she had gotten herself a shitty boyfriend who did crap like this and now, he was going to kill her once he broke down the door. She pressed against the wall in even greater fear as the pounding got harder and the yells got louder.

Then, quite suddenly, the pounding stopped and she heard a pained yelp come from the man. She blinked for a few seconds, listening to what sounded like a struggle. She ran to her door and unlocked it, looking outside.

Her eyes widened as she was hit with a great wave of relief and her tense frame relaxed a bit as she saw her neighbor over her ex-boyfriend, pinning his arms behind his back and having his face pinned to the floor.

"Now, is that any way to treat a woman?" he said to the man he had pinned down. "Especially when _you're_ the one that messed everything up?"

The pinned man just struggled, yet to no avail.

Her neighbor rolled his eyes and yanked him to his feet, dragging him towards the now opened front door. "Now, if you don't want to get the police involved, you won't come back here. Right?" The grip on his wrists tightened, threatening to break them.

"Ow! Fine!" he yelled out in pain. "I won't come back here! Now let go!"

"With pleasure." They reached the exit and her neighbor gave the man a hard shove out of the apartment and onto the floor. He slammed and locked the door before the other had a chance to get up, Adele hearing him let out a furious snarl before growing silent.

Adele let out a sigh of relief and came more into view, running her hands through her hair. "Thanks, Bryan… Man, if you hadn't have come in, he would've–"

Bryan looked up at her, frowning a bit as his brown eyes glared down at her. She bit her bottom lip at the look and looked at her feet as the man that was twice her height walked over to her, obviously annoyed.

"He would've beaten you to death," he said. "If I didn't have a key to your apartment and if the walls weren't so thin…" His voice trailed off, obviously not wanting to say what would happen to her.

She smiled a bit. "Hey. No sweat. I'm okay. See?" She gestured her hands over her small frame, showing that everything was all right. Then she walked over into her kitchen, Bryan following close behind her. "But seriously, thank you. You want anything to drink?"

"No thanks, but you're making me and Theodore dinner tonight."

She laughed. "Okay. That's fine." She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water, taking off the cap and taking a gulp.

He leaned against the countertops. "So, what happened with this guy?"

Adele rolled her eyes and groaned a bit. "He cheated on me with some bimbo that works in his department… And just when I thought he was a decent guy! It's like if I don't do it every other day with him, it's my fault that he cheats on me!"

Byran rubbed his temple. "Adele… You knew that he was divorced from his first wife due to an affair. What made you think it'd be any different?"

"Well, I–"

"Face it. You have the worst taste in men. Cheaters, liars, thieves… The list of your shitty, loser boyfriends is endless. Though you dump every one of them each time you find out what they're doing behind your back, you go out and find yourself another loser."

"So what?" she said, obviously annoyed by the fact she couldn't refute the accusation. "It just means I haven't found the right guy yet… Besides, the 'perfect man' is standing right in front of me and I can't have him."

He gave her an annoyed look. "Sorry that my sexual preference is getting in the way of your unrequited love."

"Oh please. I just said you were the perfect man. I never said I liked you in that sense."

The relationship between Bryan and Adele was one best described as a brother-sister one. Ever since she had moved into the apartment complex, they had been good friends and as Bryan was a former policeman, he protected her when her boyfriends pulled stunts like the one had done minutes before. Yet, neither felt anything but friendship towards each other. To even suggest they had romantic feelings was repulsive to the pair.

Needless to say, it didn't take a genius to see that Bryan was handsome. He was six' two with short, charcoal-black hair that looked soft enough for others to want to run their fingers through. He had oval shaped face with bright, dark brown eyes and rather intimidating facial features that really only added to his attractiveness. He had strong, long arms that were attached to broad shoulders that connected to his V-shaped body. His dark brown skin only added to his appeal as it wasn't blotchy but smooth to the fingertips.

Again, her neighbor was a handsome man and it was indeed a disappointment to the female race that he preferred men over women. For Adele, it seemed that now-a-days all the good looking men that were decent people were either taken, gay, or sometimes both. She always got the leftovers – these no good jerks she hated but always ended up dating.

Maybe it was just her luck or maybe deep down she could only ever be attracted to losers. She wasn't sure.

Bryan sighed. "Well, come over around six. Theodore should be home by five-thirty and it'll give him time to relax and change."

"Sure he won't mind?"

"He likes you and your cooking. I'm sure he won't." His gaze softened a bit. "Are you okay by yourself?"

Adele blinked for a moment, unsure of what he meant. Then she smiled a bit as he was referring to what happened earlier and nodded, holding up her two thumbs in show of her positive attitude. "Yep! I'll be fine. If I need anything, I'll scream."

He rolled his eyes. "Please don't. You'll frighten the entire building"

She laughed as he turned into the hall to leave. "See you later. And you better have food for me to cook! I am not running all the way down to the grocery store for food!"

"Bye, Adele." Then he left, locking the door behind him.

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><p><strong>AN: I've noticed that nowadays (not just on FanFic, but on all sites that allow members to post stories), unless the stories are pointless with lots of sex and smut, stories don't recieve too much attention. I mean, two of my most popular fics (which I removed from this site as I felt that they broke the FF rules WAY too much) were pretty smutty and pointless...**

**Has the whole young adult and teen world become a bunch of pervs? :/**

**Well, until the next chapter then! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

Adele looked over herself in the mirror, frowning a bit as she looked at her back when she pulled up her shirt. The bastard had shoved her pretty good; now she had a few bruises forming. That was perfect; her grandfather would throw a fit if he saw them. She'd have to be careful when she went to work tomorrow or else Lord only knew what he would do.

Her grandfather was a rather wealthy businessman, usually involving himself in commerce and stocks. He was well-respected and he was actually very generous, donating to schools and libraries across the New England region. Unlike her parents who could give a damn, he cared about her and sent her some spending money once a month, around five-hundred dollars each time. It was something Adele had never been comfortable with, but money was money and she didn't want to seem ungrateful, so she usually placed it in her savings.

At least she had the satisfaction of knowing that she would have retirement money and wouldn't have to keep working in a cubicle until she was eighty.

She sighed, looking over herself, mumbling, "I wonder if it's because of how I look is the reason why I get losers…"

It wasn't as though she was unattractive. Adele just wasn't exactly the "high-class beauty type" nor was she some "busty cute thing." She had thick, straight seal brown hair that went to her neck with steel blue eyes. She had a round face with plump lips and freckles on her light peach skin. She was a short twenty-four year old woman, only being five' two with an athlete's body – small breasts with a straight body that barely gave her any hips.

She wasn't sure what it was about her that made men do those kinds of things. Maybe it was because she was so short; men took advantage of her because they thought she was weak as much as she small. Maybe it was she wasn't that pretty; men cheated on her with much more beautiful women. There was no definite answer and she had yet to find one.

She huffed and put her shirt back on. No use crying over spilt milk, she supposed.

She grabbed her apartment keys and walked out of her place, locking the door before stuffing the keys into her pocket. She walked over to the door next to hers and knocked on it. When it opened, in the entry way wasn't Bryan, but his lover, who smiled down at her sweetly and sympathetically.

Damn it; Bryan told him.

"Hey Theo," she said. "I'm here to make dinner. Mind letting me in?"

Theodore moved out of the way, letting the woman inside and closing the door behind her. "So… Another disaster ending?"

She frowned and walked inside as he followed. "Yeah… I'm guessing he told you." Then she sighed. "Can we not talk about this? Later. Just not now."

Theodore smiled gently. "Of course." He pointed into the kitchen. "I bought some groceries on my way home, so everything should be on the counter. I'll be in the living room if you need help."

She put her hands on her hips and looked at him. "I'm the one making dinner. You're supposed to relax."

The man smiled and nodded, leaving her alone so that he could sit over in the living room, where Bryan was sitting and reading a book. She watched the pair for a moment as Theodore sat next to his lover, saying something to him and causing him to put his book down. Byran chuckled out something and pulled his smaller lover into an embrace, making his rest his head against his shoulder.

She frowned a bit, finding herself a bit jealous of Theodore. Not over Bryan, oh God no. Just over the fact that he had a good lover. Why couldn't she be lucky like that?

She looked over Theodore for a few moments, frowning to herself. He had short auburn hair that looked rather silky to belong to a man. He had a soft, round face, making him look no older than twenty-five, but actually being thirty-five and older than his lover by two years. He had bright ocean eyes with small metal-frame glasses that contrasted with his pale skin, which also seemed to be pretty well kept for a man, not that there was anything wrong with it. He was also a thin man with a straight frame, being no taller than five' nine.

No matter how she looked at Theodore, all she could see was a baby-faced man that was cute and looked like he was someone that could taken advantage of easily. Yet, the sweet man always looked happy, especially as he looked up at Bryan, whispered something to him, and then laughed when Bryan just rolled his eyes.

Yep; she was definitely jealous of the lucky bastard.

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><p>The three of the sat down at the table, eating the chicken parmesan Adele made. Theodore was practically stuffing himself, which made the woman laugh.<p>

"Slow down, Theo," she chuckled. "You're going to give yourself an ulcer."

Theodore rolled his eyes. "Shut up. I had to skip lunch today to finish my workload. Three colleagues of mine didn't show up at the office. My entire department had to help with their work. Now, I'm starving."

Bryan sighed. "You're gonna get a stomachache, you know."

"Oh shut up and bite me," he growled, eating more than he should have and ignoring the laugh Adele made.

Bryan just shook his head and looked at his neighborhood. "It's good. Thanks for the food."

She smiled and shrugged. "No biggie. It takes the same amount of time to cook for one person as it does two or three. Besides, I owe you one. Thanks again for earlier."

The comment caught Theodore's attention and he looked up at Adele, giving her an apologetic look as he set down his fork and wiped any sauce or crumbs off of his face. She noticed it and huffed, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin her palms, staring at him and sighing. "Before you ask, no – I didn't think this would happen. Yes – I need to pick my men out better. Yes – I know he's out there somewhere, but I just haven't found the right guy yet. Oh – and be careful because Bryan won't always be home to help me." She smiled a bit, though it wasn't a humored one. "That about cover all you wanted to say?"

Bryan laughed once and shook his head, taking a sip of his beer. "I think she's just about gotten your speech down, Theodore."

Theodore rolled his eyes and looked at Adele, shaking his head and rubbing his eyes. "Adele… The fact that you know my 'speech' all too well should tell you that you make this mistake with men way too often. Sometimes, I wonder if you do this on purpose."

She raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? You think I like going out with those bastards?"

"No, Adele… That's not what I meant." He sighed heavily and pulled off his glasses to wipe the lenses with his shirt. "You moved to this apartment when you were twenty. It's been four years since that time and all the men we have seen you gone out with are… Well, bad people."

She rolled her eyes, but nodded. "So I'm bad with men. I get it." Still, though she said that, a small groan escaped past her lips and she banged her head on the table, wallowing in self pity.

They were both right. She sucked with men. The men were douche-bags by heart and they always did something to screw her over. Maybe she should try one of those dating websites; her coworker found her husband on that website and they already had a daughter. Then again, probably still with her luck, she'd get some creep again.

Was this cycle of tasteless men ever going to end?

Bryan seemed to notice how her expression became distressed and huffed, getting up from chair and pulling a beer out of the fridgr, putting on the table next to her head. She looked at it and blinked, confused.

"Drink up," he said. "And tomorrow's Saturday, so it's not like you've got work."

Adele looked at the beer, then back at him. She smiled. "Thanks."

Theodore frowned as she accepted the drink and opened it up, taking a great gulp out of it. He looked at his lover, glaring a bit as he pulled two cases out of the fridge. "Bryan, drinking won't do her any good."

Bryan shrugged, finishing the beer that he had left on the table. "Either she drinks here, at her place, or down at the bar with her friends. Best get it out of her system now before she goes to the bar and picks up another loser."

"That was one time!" she cried. "I did it once and that was three years ago!"

"You still did."

"Oh be quiet!"

Theodore shook his head. "I still don't think she should be drinking."

"Again, it's now or later." He handed his smaller lover a beer. "Come on. Have a drink too."

"I don't drink."

"One beer won't kill you, Theo," Adele chuckled, taking another gulp from the can. "Come on! Drink with us!"

Theodore looked up at the younger man, who just shrugged and opened another can. The elder of the three finally just threw his hands up in the air before grabbing the beer. "Fine. But I'm only have one."

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><p>Well, one drink ended up becoming all two cases in the couple's fridge and then some since Adele had brought over her own drinks from her apartment. Theodore had never been good at holding his liquor, so he had easily passed out on the couch after drinking more than he should have while Adele was cackling loudly about something while Bryan would just shake his head at her, though both were too buzzed to really know what the conversation was about.<p>

Bryan looked over at his lover and slowly rose to his feet, walking over to the sleeping man. He gently lifted him off the couch, which made Adele chuckle. "Strong man, huh?"

He rolled his eyes. "He's not that heavy."

"That's because you're a construction worker. You can carry anyone."

She looked over at the sleeping man and sighed, running her hands through her hair. "Theo's so lucky… He's got a good job, nice friends, nice apartment, and a great lover like you. I wanna be like that… So badly…"

He sighed. "Give it time Adele."

"I've given it plenty of time!" she cried. "I've been having bad boyfriends for years! Ever since I was eighteen back in Philadelphia…! I'll never be able to get a good man like Theodore did with you… Never… Ever because I'm just so… So stupid…"

Bryan huffed at her rambling. "Come on, Adele. It's getting late. I'll take you back to your place. I'll put Theodore to bed, so give me a second."

She just nodded, still mumbling to herself as he carried him away.

Theodore was so lucky. Her friends were so lucky. Everyone was so lucky to have someone that wasn't a jerk and here she was, once again single at the age of twenty-four and hadn't had a decent boyfriend since high school. She hated losers but went out with them. Maybe because they were so good in bed. Yeah – that had to be it. They could give her a good one, but they couldn't be good to her. Damn bastards. This wasn't fair–

"Adele."

She looked up at Bryan, who was standing over her and looking down at her with a weird expression on his face. "What…?"

"You're mumbling."

Oh shit. So he heard everything.

"Yeah, I did." He lifted her up. "I guess you can't really drink too much either without getting really tipsy, huh?

She laughed. "You think… Man, I never would've guessed I mumbled."

"I think it's because you just drank too much. Remember, you stole some of my drinks."

"You don't even get drunk that fast…"

He carried her out of his apartment and to hers. He pulled the keys out her pocket and unlocked the door, walking inside and flipping on the light switch. He carried her down the hallway to her bedroom, walking inside the room and placing her on the bed. He took off her shoes and laid them on the floor, which made her laugh a bit as he put her to bed.

"You so nice to me… I definitely wanna boyfriend like you one day…" She started dozing off as soon as her head hit the pillow, her eyes dropping as she tried to look at her neighbor.

"Keep looking, Adele. He's out there."

"Yeah… Sure he is… Sure he is…" Then she fell asleep.

Bryan sighed, shaking his head before gently running a hand through her hair. "Night Adele. Food was good this time." Then he got up and left, locking the front door behind him.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, I hope this update was worth the wait. ^^ More will come eventually. When? I'm not sure, but it will come, I promise. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Bane growled, throwing the empty tanks off to the side, much to Croc's annoyance as he looked down at the now much smaller man.

"I let you hide out down here," he growled. "Don't be littering my place up."

"Didn't realize this was a high class joint you had here."

Croc glared. "It's my home and at least I've gotta place to run to. You don't… at least not without your Venom crap." He turned away from the other inmate. "You can leave your tanks here for now until you get more Venom, but I'm not letting you camp out here. Find somewhere else to crash." Then the cannibal went away and left the other criminal alone.

Bane snarled in frustration and kicked at his tanks, aggravated by the whole situation. He took off his mask and threw down next to the tanks, too frustrated to really care about anything at that point. Damn it, he had underestimated how much Venom he had left in his tanks. Luckily, it was enough for him to get away but definitely not enough to last. The last time he had been caught by the Batman, his entire Venom stash had been confiscated and most likely dumped somewhere. Sure, he could get more, but that was the tricky part.

He needed money to obtain the stuff, which he didn't have or couldn't get in this form. If he had his Venom, he'd just bust right through the bank, but if he had his Venom, he wouldn't be in a situation like this. Also, he now owed Croc for letting him hide his tanks in the sewers.

Shit, he'd have to borrow money from Penguin or Two-Face, and then he'd be in debt to them too. This could not get any worse than it already was.

Oh wait. Croc was kicking him out, meaning he'd have to find shelter elsewhere up top and the only ones he could turn to for that were still locked away in Arkham; he also still had his prison uniform on. God damn it, this was a terrible way to end an escape from the asylum. He was homeless. How pathetic was that? Damn, he just wanted to strangle someone for this.

He needed shelter. He needed money. He needed Venom.

Just how the hell was he going to get all three?

* * *

><p>Hangovers were the devils of drinking.<p>

Yet, it didn't stop people from getting drunk and waking up the next day with these tortures. Adele's entire head throbbed in pain. She didn't get so drunk that she felt nauseous, but had she drank a little more, it would've been a different story. However, she was lucky to only have a pounding headache that should go away once she had the proper medicine for it.

So, there she was at six in the morning with a headache that sleep couldn't cure and without any pills at home to make it go away, walking to a continence store with sunglasses on to block the lights of the store as she walked in. She looked over and saw the cashier – Robert Heinsen – reading over a magazine before he looked up, giving her a look.

"Went drinking again, Richards?"

His voice echoed through her head and she waved her hand at him angrily, basically telling him to speak softer. She glared in the direction of the man. "Don't give me any grief, Heinsen. I had a rough night last night."

"Broke up with your boyfriend again?"

"How did–"

"Watched him come walking in and grumbling about you being a bitch and it was your fault anyway." He pointed in the back of the store. "The Advil and such are over there. Might I suggest buying a sleeping mask and some earplugs while you're here?"

"Oh, be quiet."

Heinsen had be the first person Adele had met when moving to Gotham. He was a nice man, a married man with two sons in his mid-forties. He was a tall and plump man, having a body that had seen better days. He had light brown hair, bright blue eyes, and peach skin that had some blotches on it and his face carried some wrinkles, especially around his forehead. Age was not a friend of his, but everyone still liked him despite that as his personality made up for looks.

She placed the pills on the counter and he rang them up. He sighed and said, "Sorry about him. But I told you – he was a stupid one. Oh, and that's $8.65."

"Yeah, yeah…" she grumbled, pulling out a ten. She leaned against the counter as her head still throbbed. "Heinsen, I have pretty bad taste, don't I?"

He laughed once as he handed her the change and the pills. "Just starting to figure that out?" Then he huffed, rubbing his eyes. "Look, Adele… I hate to break it to you, but it's a lot of times your own fault. I mean, this last guy you knew cheated on his wife. And before him, you dated that one punk from that bar after sleeping with him."

She grumbled something incoherent, which made him shake his head. "Now, go home and get some rest. And when you do start looking for another guy again, try to pick him out wisely this time, got it?"

"Yeah… Thanks, Heinsen. Say hi to the wife and kids for me."

"Anytime, Adele. And I will."

The young woman then huffed and headed out the store and back down the street, her headache still aching as she suddenly felt angry with herself. Her taste in men was terrible, yet it just wouldn't change. She liked losers and tools.

She could already see her familial future – old and single and lonely. Just great.

* * *

><p>Bane had gotten the change of clothes he needed so he wouldn't be walking around in his Arkham uniform, but damn - did he wish they smelled better. Well, that's what he got for taking them from some homeless guy back down the other alley. Still, at least no one could recognize him dressed in this.<p>

It was an advantage Bane possessed over most villains. No one knew what he really looked like under the mask. Sure, they knew he had brown hair and brown eyes without the venom or his mask, but no one really paid much attention to his face when it was visible. Hell, they let him wear his mask all around Arkham because he'd punched their lights out if they tried taking it from him. Only a few knew what he really looked like and it was just a few other inmates like Croc, Penguin, and Joker. Not even the Batman really knew what he looked like. It wasn't like he had a lot of pictures of himself without his mask floating around Gotham.

He parked himself next to an old apartment complex, shielding himself from the cold and trying to get some sleep. It was hard though as it was a pretty cold night, and the clothes he wore weren't the warmest. The jeans he stole had holes in them and the jacket was worn out and thin. Damn, if he hadn't have been use to extreme temperatures, he'd be worried about freezing to death.

Just as he slumped against the building to try to get some sleep, he heard voices to his right and frowned as he saw three guys come up from behind him. He rolled his eyes and paid no attention to them. Though they were all bigger than him as he was only five' six and they were easily all over six feet, he knew that he could fight them if he had to. He grew up in prison.

Kill or be killed was the everyday fear he had to live and learn by.

He could hear one of the guys come up behind him. "Hey… You aren't from here, are you?"

Bane then remembered his advantage of not being recognizable in his normal appearance could also be a hindrance as petty hotshots like this guy didn't know he was messing with a Gotham rogue.

He didn't even look back, just ignoring them as he shifted a bit, trying to warm up by hugging himself.

The man frowned. "Hey. You're intruding here and I'm talking to you. You better answer me."

He grabbed Bane's arm, who yanked himself free and looked over his shoulder to glare at him. "No me toques."

The man only got angrier and grabbed Bane by the arm, yanking him off the floor, much to Bane's fury as he once again yanked his arm free. "Speak English, you bastard. You're in America – not Mexico."

"No soy de México," he growled.

"God damn it – speak English!"

Of course he could speak English, but when he used his native tongue, it normally made people he didn't want to associate with go away. Obviously, he could tell it wouldn't work with these guys. When the larger man once again reached for him, he caught his wrist and twisted it, causing him to cry out in pain.

"No me toques." He shoved him hard against the wall of the apartment before turning to the other two men, who he realized had bats with them.

Damn. He should've accounted for that.

* * *

><p>The noise of a ruckus made Adele's head pound even harder as she walked over to her apartment. At first, she thought it might have been some stray cats, but as she got closer, she could hear grunts and groans and the sound of flesh on flesh. Her eyes widened under the shades as she realized what was going on when she turned her head and looked across the street.<p>

It was a gang-up, three to one and two of the guys had bats, both beating at the smaller man as he fought off one of the men, slamming his fist repeatedly into his face as the bats beat down hard on his back. How he was able to withstand the beating wasn't something she understood, but comprehension was damned at the moment.

The poor man could get killed and homeless or not, Adele couldn't let it sit in her stomach to just let him get his ass kicked. Still, she found herself frozen and unable to move as her fear of getting hurt or possibly killed stopped her from walking any closer. She wasn't a fan of pain nor did she want to have any more bruises on her body. She could only stand there, watching and her migraine surprisingly disappearing.

Adrenaline did some strange things sometimes.

The smaller man finally kicked back at the two men, throwing the guy he had been punching at him onto the floor before giving him a hard kick to the stomach.

"You damn freak!" one hissed.

Bane just cracked his back and wrists, obviously ready to defend himself again if he had to but from the looks of it, he seemed to have won this little street fight. "I told you not to touch me."

"Fuck, let's get out of here!"

The three men scrambled to their feet and ran away, disappearing from view and leaving Bane alone in the alley, where he slumped against the side of the wall with a soft groan of pain.

Maybe it was the traces of alcohol roaming through her, but the hell with it. Adele walked briskly across the street before cautiously walking toward him, thinking that if she didn't keep her distance, he could attack her as well.

"Hey…" she said to him. "Are you… you okay?"

He looked at her, titling his head a bit as he stared at her, brown eyes meeting blue ones. He was about to answer, but the pain in his back stopped him and he could only let out a soft, pained hiss. Damn bastards and their bats.

She looked over and gasped, seeing that he was bleeding. "Oh shit. No, you're not. Um, I'll call an ambulance and–"

"No," he growled. "Don't call anyone. I'll be fine."

"But you're bleeding!"

"Look, I'll be fine. Just leave me alone."

She bit her bottom lip, looking back at her apartment and then back at him. She debated with herself for a view moments, not wanting to let some random stranger into her apartment but not wanting to let the man bleed to death. She didn't think it would sit well with her conscience if she just let him die like this.

Adele finally just shook her head. "Well, come to my place. I… I've got a first aid kit under my sink and I can patch you up and…"

He looked up at her, surprised by her offer. Was this woman stupid? Who invited a stranger into their home? Did she not think that he would hurt her and steal her money? He could easily kill her as soon as she was done with his injuries. He could pin her down and strangle her to death and it was all because she was stupid enough to let him into her house.

Then Bane remembered that when he was younger, he would overhear his prison mates talking about women and how easy it was to manipulate them into doing what a man wanted. They were kind and stupid by nature, so if a man could get them to feel sorry for him, he could completely control them. In the cases of the female residents at Arkham, he wasn't sure on that, but with normal women like this one, it seemed pretty much true.

Besides, the woman was offering him free shelter. He could at least use it until he could find some work, then he'd take some money from her and bail out. If she was a nuisance, he'd kill her off, but that was another decision for another day.

She pointed to the apartment across the way. "I live right over there. Come on… Can you walk okay? You need any help? You're bleeding pretty badly."

He shook his head. He had been in worst shape after fights with other gangs or Batman; he could handle some hits from a group of homeless morons easily. Pushing himself away from the wall, he balanced himself out and limped a bit in the direction she was walking.

He didn't know how he got so lucky, but he did. He could check "getting shelter" off of his do-to-list. Now, he just needed money and Venom.

Great.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, another chapter! I am very grateful for the attention this story has gotten so far - already 18 alerts and only four chapters in! Yayz! ****I do hope you readers will give this story feedback because I do appreciate your opinions on my works. It motivates me to work hard and improve on my writing. **

**Also, I apologize to any of my native Spanish speaking readers. I don't speak Spanish very well and I use Google translator since I fail. :/**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Happy Valentine's Day, my fellow readers! Hope you all enjoyed today and yes - I'm not dead! I've just been busy with other stuff. Anyway, I am currently looking for a Beta for this story. If you are interested in becoming my Beta, please PM me! ^_^**

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter! **

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><p>Adele looked behind her, watching as the man from the alley stumble inside her apartment, still bleeding from his attackers' strikes. She pointed over to the chair at her dining table. "Just sit here for a moment… Oh damn. The bleeding got worse. Maybe I should just take you to a hospital–"<p>

"No. I won't go."

She bit her bottom lip, wanting to protest but went against the desire as she didn't want to make him angry. She had just witnessed him fight off three guys with bats. If he had a violent short temper, she did not want to be his victim; he could easily kill her. "Uh, I'll be right back."

He sat where she had directed him to, his eyes following her as she walked out of the kitchen, obviously a bit unsure of how to go about this. Well, it was to be expected, or at least he thought so. After all, the woman brought a stranger into her home. Her reasons why were unclear to him, but he wasn't about to complain. If the weird woman wanted to lend him a hand, then fine by him. It just meant food and shelter, which at this point, he needed.

He rubbed his eyes and hissed softly as his shoulder throbbed. He hoped the woman would come back out here soon to tend to his wounds. They hurt more than he would've guessed. How he hated this form – he hadn't used it in so long that he had forgotten a lot of its disadvantages.

* * *

><p>Adele had popped the pills into her mouth and drank some water to help them slide down her throat with ease. She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror for a few moments, wondering what the hell she just did. She had actually brought a homeless stranger into her home to give him first aid. No one does that kind of thing except for idiots that don't mind getting mugged. Still, she couldn't just let him bleed to death.<p>

Somehow, this seemed strangely familiar. Not him, but the scenario of picking up some random stranger and letting him into her home for whatever reason. She just felt as though she had done this before–

Oh right. _Now_ she realized why this all seemed memorable. This is exactly how some of her relationships had started. The boyfriend before her last one had been a guy she picked up on the streets when they bumped into each other and she knocked him into the mud. Somehow, after many apologies, she invited him over to her place since they were close in order to wash his clothes. They ended up having sex, and they agreed to go out. Then, of course, two months later, she realized that he was stealing money from her. She figured it was because she had picked him up from the _streets._

She guessed it was true when people said unhealthy patterns always repeat themselves.

Adele wanted to slam her head against the mirror in hopes to knock some sense into herself, but she knew all she would end up with was a broke mirror and a nasty conscious with brutal scarring. She had to be considerate of the poor mirror.

She reached under the sink and pulled out the first aid kit that was inside, taking it to the stranger in her kitchen. She put it down on the table and opened it up, pulling up a chair behind him.

"Can you take off your shirt?"

The man looked at her for a second, but complied, stripping out of the soiled shirt, allowing her better access to his wounds.

"Um, does anything feel broken?"

He shook his head. "Just some bruising and scratches."

Adele nodded and turned her attention back to his back, her eyes widening as she saw numerous scars all across the tan flesh. Most were faded, but still apparent on his skin, Adele recognizing that these were most likely some battle scars of his. Great – looks like she picked up a thug. Then she shook her head and started cleansing the wound, which made him hiss.

"S-Sorry…" she stammered.

But he just shook his head, leaning an elbow on the table and resting his head in his hand, obviously his mind going elsewhere while she tended to his injury.

As the woman worked at his back, Bane allowed himself to submit into a meditated state just like he did when he was younger. It was a trick he had learned since he was a child, which kept him calm and sane around all of the other horrid screams, yells, and sounds that the prison produced. It also made any form of pain less apparent and if he could get himself deep in thought enough, he wouldn't be able to feel anything.

What seemed like only a few minutes was actually half an hour as he had fallen deep into meditation. He couldn't feel her hands move around his body, cleansing his wounds with the rag and placing bandages around the wounds. He knew what she was doing and could faintly hear her, but did not feel her touch.

"I'm done…" he faintly heard.

He opened his eyes and looked back at her, seeing that she had finished, the bandages wrapped around his upper back and shoulder, covering where it had been bleeding. He nodded to her as she put the unused bandages back into the kit before she got up and walked over to the sink, turning on the water to try to get the blood stains out of the towel.

"Hey," she said. "If you don't mind me asking… what happened back there?"

Bane wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to tell this woman anything, but he remembered what his inmates use to say about women – if you sound pathetic enough, they'll believe anything.

He huffed. "I was just taking shelter since I had nowhere else to go and really, I was just sitting there. Then they came up and started bugging me… Told them not to touch me but they didn't understand me. Then they jumped me, so I defended myself."

"Damn… I'm sorry. You have any place to go at all?"

"Been homeless just recently."

She casted him a sympathetic look, thinking that she understood the reasoning for his lack of housing. "Well, the economy has been pretty hard on people lately… I have a friend who lives in his car now since he lost his job. What happened with you? Got kicked out of your place since you couldn't pay the bills?"

"Something like that…"

"Have you been looking for a job? What did you do before?"

The woman was starting to pry where she didn't belong, so he frowned and gave her a glare. "Is that any of your business?"

She couldn't help but to roll her eyes and laugh once. "You're in my house and I just took care of your injuries. I think I have the right to ask you a few questions."

Bane was a bit put off by her response since he wasn't expecting one like that. She had a point, but he wasn't about to answer her. He just looked down at his bare chest as she finished cleaning up.

Adele sighed as she looked at the man, feeling bad that she was ready to kick him out. He was homeless, for God's sake. The poor guy probably lost his job since the economy is so bad. He seemed like a decent guy too. He wasn't a jerk or anything. Just a bit of a quiet one.

She huffed. "Hey… Um, I know you don't know me or anything, but I feel kind of bad for you." She scratched the back of her neck as the man turned around. "So… Do you need a place to stay? You… can stay here for a while if you'd like."

He stared at her for a few moments, shocked to hear the offer. He thought he would be the one that would have to ask her to stay, but here she was, giving him the option to stay. Maybe women were as gullible as his old prison mates had made them out to be. He wouldn't have guessed, but he never had that much experience with women so he wouldn't know.

"Yeah… Thanks."

She gave him a soft smile and pointed toward the couch. "Um, it's a pull-out mattress. Sorry I don't have anything else. Let me get you some blankets and such. I also got some men's clothes lying around… You look like you haven't had a minute of sleep."

He said nothing and merely nodded, walking over to the couch in the living room, pulling out the mattress and sitting down on it. He really didn't care where he slept as long as it was warm. The mattress was comfortable enough – way better than the crap cots over at Arkham. Those things were almost as hard as bricks and as cold as ice.

Bane waited a few moments until the woman returned, carrying a handful of blankets, a pillow, and a change of clothes. She plopped them down on the bed next to him. "There. I think that should do it. If you need more blankets or the clothes don't fit right, I think I have some other stuff for you."

He shook his head. "This is fine."

She nodded and went back into the kitchen, getting the first aid supplies to put back into the bathroom.

He changed out of the pants he had stolen, putting on the black slacks she had given him. He put the shirt off to the side since he didn't need it at the moment. He set up the bed and laid down on it just as the woman came back into the room.

"Is everything okay?"

He nodded.

She ran her hands through her hair. "This may be little late, but… I'm Adele Richards."

Bane had to admit that he had been worried about introductions. He couldn't just tell her his name – it would give everything away. Still, if he didn't say something, she would grow suspicious and might even call the police. He couldn't have that. So, he quickly raced through his mind in order to dig up a name, any name that would satisfy her.

He remembered that when he was young, the man in the cell next to his carried the name Javier Suarez, a name he remembered only because when the guards took him away to be executed, he kept shouting, "I am innocent! Javier Suarez is innocent! God as my witness, I am innocent!" It was a shout that everyone within the Peña Dura prison, or for that matter, the entire Santa Prisca island, heard until they killed him.

It was one of the few names he even remembered.

"Javier Suarez."

She titled her head. "You're Hispanic?"

She couldn't tell from the slight accent in his voice? Yet, he just nodded.

Adele shrugged. "Oh, interesting. Um, so… get some rest and then you can take a shower and everything." Then she simply nodded to herself and walked away, leaving him to stare around her living room for a few moments.

He searched for the light switch and he found it, but his eyes became fixated on the shelf next to the switch. On it were pictures of what looked like friends and family and he slowly got up, his attention being drawn to one picture in particular. He picked it up and stared at it for a few moments, his eyes widening.

It was a normal picture of the woman and an older gentleman, one that he recognized. If memory served him right, he had seen him a few months back when Penguin and the rest of his hired crew, which included Bane, had invaded an elitist party and robbed the guests of what they had. That man was definitely part of the crowd, which meant he had to have some form of wealth.

This Adele woman was a friend or relative of this man? She had connections to money? It was almost too good to be true. The woman was obviously important to the man judging by their closeness in the photo and if that were the case, he could get the money easily or, better yet, he could simply have this man get his Venom to be shipped in.

He laughed once. Never would he have guessed that he would've gotten so lucky. He was actually glad he had gotten into that fight outside. Now he had just guaranteed himself everything he needed.

Just how perfect was that?


	6. Chapter 6

Adele sighed at her desk, typing away whatever she was supposed to be typing, her mind focusing on other things at the moment. Though rather, it was more like she was focusing on only one thing.

Her rather unexpected and quiet guest that was staying at her apartment, to be exact.

It had been three days since his arrival and for the most part, Javier kept to himself and didn't do anything that got in her way. Even when they would eat together, he never said much. Just a "Thanks for the food" and such. Other than that, nothing. He would leave sometimes and then come back hours later, though she didn't know where he went off to. She didn't ask either as it wasn't any of her business. Honestly, she didn't want to know either. The man was homeless without family – it was suspicious, to say the least, but she didn't question it.

Besides, her guest wasn't stealing anything from her – no money or credit cards were ever missing from her wallet – and he did clean up after himself, which was nice.

Still, it was bizarre and rather unconventional for her. No man had ever stayed in her apartment that she wasn't dating. Now, here was some stranger, some homeless guy, residing in her home. As of now, he was at her place while she was here working.

She let out a heavy sigh and rubbed her eyes.

"What? Still thinking about the break-up?"

Adele looked up and saw that her friend – Diana – was standing over her, peering down at her with a blank expression. Adele rested her head on her hand, propping her elbow up on the desk and looked up at her. "No… And who told you about that?"

"Saw Theodore down by the coffee shop the other day and he told me. Rough break."

She shook her head. "Bastard was a loser anyway… I'm better off. Besides, I'm sure he just moved in with the other girl. It's–"

Diana rolled her eyes. "No big deal, right? Come on, Adele. You say the same damn thing every time. I get that this seems routine to you, but that's not a good thing, you know."

The smaller woman grumbled something incoherent, which made Diana smile in triumph. "I'm hardly wrong, Adele." Then her smile faded and she shook her head. "Still, I think maybe it's time you go on one of those dating, match-making sites since… Well, you kind of suck of doing it by yourself.

She frowned. "Thanks, Diana… Care to pour more salt on the wound?"

Still, Diana had a point. For one thing, her friend had met her current boyfriend on one of those sites and they were pretty happy together. Also, she couldn't pick out the right men. Only losers, which was hurting her pride every time it happened. It wasn't like she was some weak and simple-minded push-over. She was just atrociously bad at picking men.

"So, we going out tonight to weep?"

She shook her head. "No. I've got someone over and–" Adele then bit her tongue as she realized what slipped passed her lips, especially when Diana's eyes widened. Her friend knew that usually the only people that ever stayed over at her place were men.

"So fast? Damn, you know how to move on… So, what kind of jackass is he this time?"

Adele shook her head. "No, it's not like that… He's… an acquaintance of mine."

"What kind of acquaintance?" she demanded, folding her arms across her chest with her eyebrows raised. Too many times had she seen her friend get her heart broken. She wasn't a fool when it came to how Adele was like in her love life.

She looked down at her hands, which rested on the keyboard to her computer. She was unsure on how to explain her past-three-day guest. It wasn't like he was a bad guy, or at least not to her. He may have nearly killed those three other guys, but he wasn't aggressive or violent toward her. He was just some man that was living in her apartment until he got a job. He wasn't a bad guy, though maybe a bit of a thug.

Still, he wasn't a jerk or a creep from what she was observing and that was what she cared about most at the moment.

She tapped her fingers on the keys and mumbled out, "I met him a while ago and… well, he said he lost his job and has nowhere to go… So, he's been living at my place for the past few days."

Her answer elicited a groan from Diana, who buried her face into her hand, shaking her head in disappointment. Adele rolled her eyes and finally got up for a lunch break, Diana following her and lecturing as she did so.

"Ironic how you can be a bitch to friends and family and everyone with that smart-ass mouth of yours but you can be some sweet and considerate thing when it comes to everyone else."

"I'm not like that."

"Oh yes, you are," Diana growled as they walked toward the elevator, pressing the button to bring it up. "If they aren't friends or family, you act all considerate."

Adele rolled her eyes. "You make it sound like I'm some heartless bitch to you and everyone else."

"No, but you don't act the same. That's what I am trying to tell you."

But Adele once again just shook her head as the elevator came up and the two of them walked inside. "Seriously – I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not like that."

"You know what?" Diana said, putting her hands on her hips. "Ask both your 'guest' and Bryan what kind of a person you are. I guarantee you that you'll get two different answers."

"And I guarantee you I won't."

* * *

><p>Bane sighed as he the picture back down on the shelf. So far, he had discovered that the man was her grandfather, Oscar Richards. He was invested in both bonds and stocks and had his own little merchant business down by the docks. The information was useful, but he still needed to know how to contact him. So far, he had found little success in that part of his investigation.<p>

He also tried finding things out about his host. Yet, as of now, he didn't know much. She worked at a credit company and she was gone from seven to four on the weekdays. Her name was Adele Richards and she, for the most part, stayed out of his way. She took care of him and housed him, never questioning when he went out or when he just sat there. She was a very hands-off woman, from what he observed, which was a good thing for him.

He couldn't have her knowing what he was up to or else he'd have to kill her. That would just completely destroy his plans.

He heard the door creak open and peeked out into the hallway, seeing the woman rub her eyes as she locked the door. She threw her house keys into the bowl on the side table before looking up, seeing him peeking in. She gave him a tired smile as she put down her purse.

"Hey Javier. You didn't go out today?"

Javier.

Bane had a feeling that he would almost never get used to that name. Still, he had to use it so suspicion would be kept at a minimal.

He shook his head, which made the woman sigh.

"You know… Maybe you should look in the paper for a job or something."

"I'm looking," he lied softly, watching her as she walked into the kitchen. He followed her, keeping a safe distance so she wouldn't get wary. He knew for a fact that people got nervous if someone they didn't know or didn't trust well was too close to him. All he had to do was think about the doctors and guards at Arkham, the cowards.

She pulled out a Pepsi from the fridge. "You want one too?"

He shook his head.

She shrugged and closed it, leaning back against the counter as she opened the can. "Listen… Can I ask you something?"

He nodded, sitting down on the table. He was a bit apprehensive – was she growing suspicious all ready?

"How…" Adele paused for a moment, taking a sip from the can. She was unsure of how to ask him, but knew she should. She had already asked Bryan, who she seen on her way home from work. She asked him on how he would describe her and it was the way she thought she was. She was bad with men and nice, friendly but still sarcastic with others.

Why on Earth Diana would think differently wasn't understandable.

"How would you describe me?" she asked him carefully. "I mean… You've been here for a few days. As a person… how would you describe me?"

Bane just stared at her, unsure of how to answer.

"You can be honest… I don't mind."

He looked at his hands, unsure of what to say. Three days had not been a long time to get to know someone and he wasn't sure if she was asking on a friend-based or stranger-based level. He knew he had to answer as this seemed important to her, but nothing was coming to mind as the two didn't talk much.

So he did was he did best. He recalled what he had observed and merely spewed that into words.

"Well… you're very kind," he said softly. "You're also very quiet and hands-off on a lot of things. You don't hound me and you're very… polite…"

He stopped talking when he noticed how she was staring at him with a dead-pan expression. He wondered if he had said something wrong and was about to ask, but she groaned before he could get a chance.

"God damn it…" she growled, slamming her can down on the counter, folding her arms across her chest. "Diana was right after all… Ugh."

She pouted like a little girl, which was somewhat amusing yet puzzling to him. He kept himself from laughing and titled his head to the side. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, though he could tell she was angry about something. Again, he was about to say something, but she beat him to it. "My friend… said I acted differently around friends and strangers. I thought it was bullshit, but… I guess it isn't."

Bane said nothing and merely looked down at his hands.

Adele stretched and groaned, shaking her head. "Well… Nothing I can do about it now. I'm going to take a shower and then get some takeout. Anything you don't want?"

He shook his head.

She smiled and nodded once, leaving the kitchen and walking into her bathroom. He simply rested his head on the table and closed his eyes, sitting in absolute silence. Faintly, he could hear the water turn on and he knew that at the moment, she'd be distracted.

He got up and slowly walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway, over to her purse. He opened it and carefully searched through her wallet. He found her driver's license and her insurance card and studied them, nodding to himself. He had a feeling he'd have to remember all of this one day and he closed his eyes, allowing the information to sink into his brain.

Though not the most educated of criminals, he had found his own ways to increase his intelligence.

He placed them back exactly where he found them and put her purse back the way it was. He thought about stealing her money numerous times, but went against it as it wouldn't do him any good. For one thing, she didn't have much cash. He also never used a credit card before so he couldn't take that. Then there was the idea that she would lose trust in him and everything would be ruined.

It was frustrating as hell, but Bane had learned patience was always the key to any plan.

Prison taught him that all too well.

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><p><strong>AN: I feel like it's been forever since I worked on this... Well, here's chapter six. Hope you all enjoyed that.**

**I shall work on chapter 7... eventually. **


	7. Chapter 7

**HEY EVERYONE! Guess who's back?! That's right – me! XD**

**Guys, I just wanted to say up front… I am SO sorry that I haven't updated this in over a year. I swear, it's not because I didn't want to work on this because I did! I just got sucked up into the Transformers fandom for a long while… ^^; But I ALWAYS remembered this story and I'm pretty shocked that this thing still has followers! **

**And I didn't realize the lack of Bane fanfiction! Seriously – I've been away for a year and this fic is still one of the only seven Bane fics! Anyway, I finally found the drive to work on and finish this chapter. **

**I hope it's good… Sorry for making you wait. ^^; **

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><p>When his host had gotten Chinese takeout for dinner, she had apparently stopped by the liquor store as well, buying herself a twelve pack of beer. He was a bit taken aback as to her purchase of alcohol. Didn't she worry about her own safety? She had brought a <em>stranger<em> into her home, a stranger who she didn't even realize was _lying_ to her.

Surely, she knew what kind of scenario this was. Getting drunk in front of a stranger? He had only been living here for three days… Perhaps when she had asked him what kind of a person he thought her to be like, he should have said "irresponsible." Just because she was young didn't excuse her from being completely stupid and doing dangerous things.

Not that he had any interest in something like that. In fact, he had no interest in women. Not because he was gay or asexual or something like that. He just… simply didn't have an interest in sex. He grew up in a hellhole of a prison with some of the most deprived human beings he had ever come across. While some of the criminals in there had been sexual deviants – Bane even knew of one inmate that was in for being basically a serial rapist and killer – he was not one of them and he had never become one of them.

In truth, he was a virgin. He wasn't ashamed of it, either. He didn't need women and he didn't practically have a desire for them either. He just wasn't that type of person. He could kill, rob, fight, and do all of those violent and murderous acts to anyone for any give reason. But he didn't rape because he simply didn't have a desire to control any woman like that.

She was incredibly fortunate that he, the stranger, had no interest in taking advantage of her. Well, sexually anyway. He was taking advantage of her by lying to her about his identity and by trying to get close to her for the sake of meeting and robbing her grandfather.

He had learned a bit about her from their dinner conversations these past few evenings. How her parents were kind of "white-trash" (her words, not his), how she moved here when her wealthy grandfather had offered her a job, how she barely finished community and was too lazy to get her bachelors, how she was a bit of a stupid kid, and so on.

He would make up lies about himself, mainly regurgitating information he had on other inmates in his childhood prison. He drafted his story carefully, giving enough detail to satisfy any questions she may or may not have had. He created a "normal" young being that he knew would satisfy anyone if they asked.

His name was Javier Suarez. He was born into a large family in Guatemala, the fourth child of six. Wanting a better life and having the potential to have one over his brothers and sisters, his entire family saved up for him to come to America to get his citizenship. He had gotten his citizenship and had found a nice office job at a phone company. He missed his family and kept in touch with them, sending them letters and money once a month. Of course, with the bad economy, he had been laid off and had been homeless for about a month before ending up here due to Adele's kindness.

It was a complete and utter lie, but it wasn't as if he could tell her the truth. If she ever found out, she would not doubt try to call the police. Then he would have to kill her. And it wouldn't be hard. She may have looked athletic, but she was even smaller than him and he had much more skill than she ever would. All he would have to do was knock her down to the floor and strangle her. No one would ever know until her corpse rotted, causing a hideous odor to come through the apartment. Unless he dumped the body somewhere.

But no one would know it was him and that was all that mattered to him at the end of the day.

He, of course, would never say that out loud. Unless he wanted to be discovered. For now, he simply pretended to be someone he wasn't for the sake of getting close to her and, eventually, her grandfather.

Though, he wasn't expecting the woman to get this drunk after they finished eating the food she had bought for them.

She had offered him a can, but he declined, watching her down one beer after another. He asked her if she wanted to stop, but she said she was fine. He didn't care to truly stop her, just leaning back on the couch and watching her drink herself into a stupor. He wondered for a moment if most normal women were like this. Bringing strangers home and then getting drunk in front of them.

But he knew it was probably just irresponsible women like this one. She was the type of woman that made her an easy target for men like him. Criminals who wanted something from her, but certainly not a relationship. Whether it was money, sex, or the simple idea of power, it was women like Adele where criminals would get it from. Women like her were foolish. Slow. Easily manipulated. That was why she had let him in. That was why he knew he could get what he wanted from a woman like her and she would be none the wiser.

As Bane just watched her from the makeshift bed, Adele continued to drink on the chair across from her couch. She was on the seventh beer and she was definitely drunk. Not completely wasted, but more than buzzed. She had never been the best at holding her liquor, but damn it, she was pissed and just wanted to forget about what happened when she had went to pick up some Chinese food.

Her ex-boyfriend had been there, ordering something himself. He approached her, despite her giving him the cold shoulder. He even stalked her for a bit, mocking her and calling her whatever nasty insult he could throw at her, telling her that of course he would go to someone else when she wasn't satisfying him. She had proceeded to punch him in the face and stormed off, ignoring his shouts.

Because he didn't attempt to go after her, though, she continued down to the liquor store and bought the first twelve pack she saw. How dare that bastard say that! Wasn't satisfying him?! Did he expect her to have sex with him every night?! She had a job and life – sex wasn't always on her mind! She couldn't believe him… Well, no, she could believe him, the slimy pervert.

And to think she had seriously liked him. That was why she was so angry. She had liked him and it hurt her for him to say that. And it had only been less than a week. Of course she would still feel something for the man, even if he had gone and done that. Feelings didn't just go away with the snap of her fingers. She wished it did. It would certainly make things less painful.

She didn't even care that some stranger was over at her house. She just wanted to drink and forget about that guy, even if it killed her.

She let out a heavy sigh, making her house guest turn to her. It had only been three days, but Javier was a nice guy. He didn't get in her way and was pretty polite. He was a bit standoffish though and didn't like to make conversation. But it was okay. It matched his dark, thug-like appearance. He may have been small and a little skinny, but it was obvious he could beat the crap out of her if he wanted to. Still, he didn't and was good to her, which she deeply appreciated

"You're a nice guy, you know."

He looked up, but remained silent.

She giggled, finishing the rest of her can and throwing it to the floor. She got up from the chair and plopped down on the couch, making his eyes widen slightly. Just what did she think she was doing? He said nothing though and continued to look at her as she scooted up to him.

"You're a nice guy," she repeated, smiling. "You don't get in my way. You don't steal my shit… Seriously – you're better than all my ex-boyfriends put together and I've only known you for… three day, right?"

"Yes." He was finding himself rather uncomfortable as she came a little too close to him. But he was already leaning back against the back of the couch. There wasn't anywhere else he could really go.

"Yeah, three days." She leaned into his arm, closing her eyes. He was warm. God, she missed this. She may have broken up with her ex, but… she was tired of being lonely. And tossed aside. Just the warmth of leaning against another man's body was… relaxing. She must have looked like a pathetic loser, but she was too buzzed to care.

Bane stiffened a bit when she leaned against him. What the hell was she doing? He hoped she wasn't trying to silently ask him for sex or anything like that. There was no way he was going to do something like that. To make sure she understood he had no desire for anything of the sort, he kept his hands on his sides and did not move closer to her. He stayed perfectly still as he looked at her, waiting for her to do… whatever she was going to do.

"My ex was a bastard," she mumbled. "He cheated on me. Because I didn't let him hump me every time he wanted to do it. But I was either tired or just not in the mood! I mean, shit – you must have had girlfriends before, right? Weren't there just times you didn't wanna do it?!"

He truthfully didn't have much experience on the subject, but he knew his silence wouldn't help him get her off of him. Considering sex wasn't on his mind, he never really wanted to do it. So he just nodded, which seemed to satisfy her.

"See?" she said, gesturing to him. "Finally – a man who understand where I'm coming from! I wish I would have met you a long time ago! I need someone who can understand me… Geez, and here I thought you were just a homeless thug."

Bane remained silent as the woman rambled on and on about past boyfriends. He pitied somewhat. It was obvious that she did not have a nice record of lovers. She just seemed to date criminals. But he wasn't too surprised. She was irresponsible and foolish. She was just too easy of a target for men like that.

Eventually, the girl was growing sleepy and slumped against his arm, mumbling about how he was a nice guy and why she couldn't date someone like him. If she didn't get to her own bed soon, he would be sleeping next to a touchy drunken woman. He certainly didn't want that, especially if she came to her senses and somehow found a way to accuse him of rape.

Carefully, he picked her up in his arms. She was pretty damn light. He had forgotten that women didn't have as much mass as men did, especially when comparing someone as trained as himself to a normal woman of this size.

He carried her to her bedroom, though he struggled a little bit because she kept wiggling around in his grip, giggling like a child. He decided that next time his host wanted to drink, he would try to convince her that it wasn't such a good idea. Especially not when strangers were in her house… Well, perhaps he wouldn't say that. He didn't want her to think he did something to her when he would never.

Just as he laid her down on her bed, she wrapped his arms around his neck and yanked him down. He lost his footing and fell on top of her, giving a small grunt as she laughed. He frowned, undoing her arms. Drunken women were certainly annoying creatures. Or maybe Adele just was when she was drunk, clinging to him like he was her lover.

"You're such a nice guy," she purred, running her fingers down his lips. "But that's how they all start out… They're all nice and friendly before they completely screw me over… Are you like that too, Javier? Are you going to screw me too?"

This woman was drunk. And she probably wouldn't even remember any of this come morning. Drunk people usually didn't remember much. He huffed and shook his head. "No, I won't."

It was a lie, but if it would make the woman happy and get her to stop touching him, he would say anything at this point.

"Really?"

"Yes. I won't 'screw you over.'"

She smiled brightly at that. Then, catching the criminal off guard, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down, crushing her lips against his.

Bane did not move. His entire body just remained frozen as he stared down at the woman kissing him with wide eyes. He… didn't know what to think. He had never kissed anyone before. Where would he have ever kissed anyone?! He had never been with anyone this way. Not even for recreational purposes! He wasn't like Two-Face or Penguin – his interests resided elsewhere and away from the female body!

Still, he never would have imagined a woman's lips to be so… soft. Or small. How would he have known? He never touched anyone in this manner before. He didn't know a woman's lips would be so warm and so gentle… Smooth and calming… God, what was this? He didn't hate it, but he didn't understand it, so he couldn't very well say he liked it. Besides, it smelled of alcohol, which put him off a bit.

Definitely not the typical romantic "first kiss" people envisioned.

Finally, Adele let go, giving a lazy smile as she fell back against the sheets. He just stared at her for a few moments as she laughed, putting herself in a more vulnerable position. "You're not a bad guy, Javier… I like that."

Bane said nothing. He simply stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He waited by the door for a few moments, seeing if she would come out or not. She didn't, making him think she was giggling up a storm inside or was slowly passing out. Either way, she wouldn't be near him, which he liked.

He huffed, walking back into the living room. He picked up one of the remaining beer cans and opened one, talking a large gulp from it. The cold and fresh cheap beer had a bad after taste, but it settled his nerves a bit. Not that he was completely rattled. Just… shocked by what she had done.

His host, after only knowing each other for three days, had just kissed him. And flirted with him a bit back in her bedroom. Or so he dubbed it as flirting. Of course, she was drunk and wouldn't remember a thing tomorrow, which he would prefer. He would rather not have her bring up what she had just done a few moments ago.

He finished the can and let it fall to the floor, lying back down on the makeshift bed. He had certainly gotten closer to her that he wanted to. And, for his sake, he hoped that would be the last time they would ever get that close.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hi everyone... It's been a long time... AGAIN. .**

**So I'm really sorry for taking so long to update, but truth be told, I kind of fell out of the Batman fandom when my love for Transformers came about, so I stopped working on everything Batman related.**

**UNTIL NANO CAME AROUND. And maybe some of you know and maybe some don't, SO I'll just say it now. I took down my old Lunar Asylum fic and am now rewriting the entire thing for my NaNoWriMo project and I'm posting the chapters up on and Ao3 for people to read~ So if you wanna check out the new and (hopefully) improved Lunar Asylum fic, please do so! A lot of things have been changed/are going to change, so you won't really be reading the same story twice.**

**ANYWAY, because I'm rewriting Lunar Asylum, I also found an interest/desire to continue this story... So you may see some more chapters in the future and I don't mean an entire year later, lol. **

**Hope you enjoy this chapter and please give my new Lunar Asylum fic a read if you're interested/got the time! :D**

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><p>Adele had an incredibly headache when she woke up, but she could only bitch and moan about it so much. After all, it was her own damn fault. God, she knew she shouldn't have been drinking that much, especially not with some strange man living with her in her house who could have taken advantage of her!<p>

But, after she had done a quick check of herself in the bathroom, she had realized just how fortunate she had been last night. Christ, Javier was giving her more and more reasons to trust him, even though it had only been four days. Still, it seemed obvious to her that he was a good guy. He hadn't assaulted her in her sleep. Hell, he had even brought her to bed!

No guy had ever been that sweet to her before. She laughed at the idea that maybe she should have taken it as a sign from God or something. Was this guy going to be her next boyfriend? Though homeless, he was pretty good looking. And even though he didn't talk much, that voice of his was pretty sexy… Especially with that accent.

Oh, what the hell was she even thinking? This guy was probably like how most guys should have been – decent people. He was probably just repaying her for giving him a place to stay until he got back up on his feet. Besides, she had only known him for about four days now. He could have been just being nice for now and was waiting for the right moment to turn into a dick.

Still… It would have been nice for a chance to date some decent.

Wanting to repay him though for putting up with her yesterday, she had asked him if he wanted anything special for dinner. Javier had seemed confused at first, but when she kept pressing, he eventually relented and told her to make some Mexican food. Since she wasn't the best cook, especially when it came to any type of food outside of boring "white people" food, and she wanted him to actually enjoy his meal, she went to get take-out from a family restaurant nearby.

She really needed to stop with the take-out and late-night orders and food runs though; it was putting a dent in her wallet.

Currently, she and Javier were sitting at the table, both enjoying their meals. Especially Javier, who ate his enchilada rather aggressively. It was kind of amusing to watch; he looked like a little kid who hadn't had his favorite meal in ages. Considering that he was homeless though, she could understand why he was eating it the way he was. He probably hadn't had something like that in a long time.

She smiled. It was good to know that he was actually very much enjoying his meal. The last thing she wanted to do was give him something shitty when she just wanted to thank him for being… well, a nice guy. She wished she knew some other way to show him her thanks, but currently, nothing was coming to mind.

Oh well, at least he seemed satisfied with this.

She cleared her throat, getting his attention as he stopped eating to look up at her. "Um… I wanted to… apologize for last night."

Javier remained silent and just stared at her for a few moments. Crap, now she felt awkward since the man didn't say anything. Most people would ask "about what" or just say something that would indicate that they actually wanted to continue the conversation. But no, Bane just stared at her with a blank expression, waiting for her to speak again.

Awkwardly, she rubbed the back of her neck and coughed. "Uh, well… I, um, got drunk last night, remember?"

He nodded.

"I… I just wanted to apologize if I bothered you… And, uh, thank you for putting up with me… And putting me to bed… And not doing anything to me."

Javier, once again, just stared at her with a blank expression. She had no idea if she had just offended him or not, making her wish she had just kept her mouth shut and said thanks. Still, she had thought that the guy would at least give a nod or something! But no. He just stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights.

Just lovely.

She buried her face into her hands, rubbing her eyes as she tried to keep her cheeks from turning red from the humiliation. God, how she wished that she was mind reader, it would sure make things a hell of a lot easier to understand him. She could only hope that the man would talk more if they got to know each other.

Though, with as silent as he was, she had no idea when that would happen. If it would ever happen.

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><p>After Adele had cleaned up, Bane's host had retreated back into her room, probably still embarrassed about whatever had happened at dinner. He didn't understand why she had felt that way though. Everyone acted differently when they were drunk. She couldn't help it and it wasn't as if she had remembered what she had done to him while intoxicated. He knew that if he did tell her that, she wouldn't come out of her room.<p>

It was stupid, but somewhat amusing at the same time. He had never been around a woman for this long before and with him unable to have any access to his venom, he could only observe her in between arranging his next plan to obtain his venom and bring down the Batman.

Though, truthfully, he knew had bigger issues to face at the moment than the Batman. Ever since that bruja had used him like an animal for her damned Titan experiment, his blood was still out there, still available for anyone to use and make more monstrous creatures like Joker's makeshift monsters during the Arkham takeover.

He needed to find it quickly. If he couldn't hide it from the Joker or anyone else who wanted to get their filthy and unworthy hands on it, he would have to dispose of it. The trash of this city didn't deserve it and he couldn't allow anyone to be stronger than him. Truthfully, he hoped to keep it for himself and hide it in storage.

But if it came down to it, he would destroy it if it was absolutely necessary.

His hand curled up into a fist. Damn it, he was running out of time. Even though he had only been here for four days, it had felt like an eternity. Besides, he knew he couldn't hide forever. The woman would grow suspicious of him if she didn't think he was looking for a job. Not to mention the police and Batman were probably searching for him.

Perhaps he could look for employment though elsewhere… The Penguin was always looking for new puppets to do his bidding. And maybe he knew about the location of some of the Titan cans that were sent out. It was worth an attempt. Besides, if he acted as a lowly goon, the Batman wouldn't think or look twice at him if they ever got into a fight.

That still left the woman though. He still needed to get to manipulate this woman into getting close to her grandfather to get the money. He debated threatening her, but he didn't know how easily that would work. Not to mention the transaction between him and her grandfather wouldn't go as smoothly and it would only draw in Batman's attention.

He was stumped for a moment until he remembered last night when his host had been drunk. She seemed to be an honest drinker, or at least liked to vent out her frustrations and feelings to the closest person to her and then cling onto them like some sort of squid. Annoying, but as he reviewed what had happened, he realized that he might have found a solution to his problem.

Adele had believed his Javier Suarez alias to be "a nice guy." She had just been dumped by a cheating ex-boyfriend and she was obviously the type that had been taken advantaged of all her life by worthless men. She clearly wanted a man in her life she could trust and love and who would actually love her back and wouldn't take advantage of her.

And in her drunken mind, she believed him to be that person. Hell, she had even kissed him, even though she probably never would have done it while sober. Still, it was a start to something that he never thought he would have to do, but was now starting to consider it.

He had never been in a relationship before. There was no need for him to be in one either. For one thing, most of his life was being trapped down in that damn hellhole of a prison with psychotic criminal men before being made into a lab experiment. He had to focus on survival not romance. And then after that, he made it his goal to purify this city of the basura that polluted it. Relationships had never been on his mind.

But… Bane looked over at the door to his host's room. It was certainly on his mind now. All he had to do was simply continue his role as "the nice guy Javier." Get into a relationship with this woman, get close to her, make her love and trust him to the point where she would be comfortable with introducing him to her grandfather.

With Adele, he could imagine it being child's play. She had clearly been abused in almost all of the romantic relationships she had been in. If he acted the part correctly, she would fall for Javier easily because he would act the part of the man she always wanted in her life. Taking advantage of that little factor would be far too easy.

Now that he had the plan, he had to prepare the bait. He would have to make her believe that he was interested in her, but not in a creepy or unsettling way. If she believed that he only wanted to have sex with her or something like that, the plan would fail. He just needed her to think that he was romantically attracted to her and in turn, get her interest in his Javier persona.

He would have to wait until tomorrow though to put this plan into action. Attempting it now would make things worse for him, especially since his host was still hiding in her room out of embarrassment over what happened at dinner, even though nothing had actually happened. What a simple woman. But with her being as simple and stupid as she was, it worked perfectly for his plans.

Now he just needed to wait for tomorrow to come and everything would fall into place.


End file.
